Come on down!

Yesterday, Nellie and I went to pick out appliances. It sort of feels like I won the Price is Right. I know it seems sort of materialistic-dumb-American to post what appliances we're getting, but I've had several people ask, so I thought I'd throw these up. I'm pumped about putting them all to use.

For years we've lived in apartments and had to make do with whatever crappy appliances came furnished or that we could quickly source from craigslist. Like we told our salesman—anything is going to be a vast improvement over the clunkers we've had over the years. When he got into the decibel levels of dishwashers, I had to chuckle because our current "dishwasher" sounds like a helicopter taking off. That being said, I think we were able to get some really great stuff at very reasonable prices.

We're getting all the appliances from The Appliance Center in Durham, which had some great products, super helpful and knowledgeable staff, and prices that compare to or beat any big box or online store. None of these are being installed any time real soon, but it feels good to have one more thing to check off our list.

Zephyr Cyclone Hood - Model: AK6500S

A pretty powerful unit that will be great when I'm searing meat or dry roasting chilies and spices, which always sends Nellie running from the room coughing her head off. It vents to the outside and cleaning is very easy. This model has incandescent bulbs, which aren't as bright as the halogen models, but also don't get as hot. This means you don't have to worry about leaving the incandescent bulbs on for long periods of time, and the replacement costs are just a few dollars vs. $15 or so for halogen.

KitcenAid Dishwasher - Model: KUDC10IXSS

This washes dishes. It might not have all the crazy extras that are, in my mind, unnecessary, but it gets the job done and looks good doing it. It should run very quietly and uses only a few gallons of water for each load.

KitchenAid Refrigerator - Model: KBFS25EWMS

I've always wanted a bottom freezer fridge and have been happy to see them gaining in popularity. Nellie and I both dislike having the water/ice dispenser on the door, which is good because it saves us about $500 on the appliance. This model has a water dispenser and filter for the ice machine inside, allowing us to have all the fancy with the benefit of a smooth exterior. It's a pretty huge machine. We had originally thought we'd go with a counter-depth model but you really only save about 5" of space and it uses almost exactly the same amount of power—did I mention they also cost about a grand more? More money for less space.

KitchenAid Gas Range - Model: KGRS206XSS

I'm pretty amped to put this bad boy through its paces and very excited about the bang for the buck. Sure, you can get a slide-in model that looks a bit more sleek, but you pay an extra grand for looks and this limits you to only 4 burners. This model has enough bells and whistles without being silly—convection baking, delayed cooking timer, etc. This range has 5 burners with one long burner in the center that will be great with a cast iron griddle. The big main burner pumps out 17,000 BTUs, which is pretty huge for a non-professional line model. I'll have to get my dragon's-breath wok station installed later.

Whirlpool Washer and Dryer - Model: WED9050XW

This is just the washer, but you get the idea. These will be stacked in the hall closet with storage to one side for a vacuum and other storage stuff. There are flashier washer/dryer models out there, but really, who cares? It's going to be in a closet and we saved about $400 to sacrifice a few washing settings that we'd probably never use. Front loaders can hold a lot more than even larger top loaders so these models work great for us.

These ads brought to you by me. Sorry if this post seems really lame, but the people want to know, and it's my duty to report the facts.